Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: God

I Am With You

Encouragement, Trust

I Am With You

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41:10‬

His Presence Is Everything

This is a verse we all should memorize and keep close to our hearts.  Whenever you feel that God may not be listening, remember this promise.  Or when you feel you just can’t make it another day, know that God is still there.  When you just cannot do it, He will.  He holds everything together in the palm of His hand.

The truth of this great verse is found in the promise of His presence. We never know what we may encounter from day to day, but we can count on God being right here with us.  If we have fear, His presence is all we need.  If we are without understanding, His wisdom surrounds us.  When we are lacking, He fills us with His love.  The power of His presence is overwhelming when we realize how close He is.  God is not far away.  As a Christian, He is living inside of you.  He wants to be part of your life.

We should seek and desire His presence everyday.  Moses said to God in Exodus 33:15, “If Your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.”  Moses didn’t want to make a move until he knew God was going with them.  Moses was so use to seeking His presence that He would be lost without it. That should be our same attitude and desire.  God’s presence is the most important thing we know.  The Holy Spirit is God’s presence.

Prayer

Praise Him out loud by saying or singing, “You are my strength, You are my help, You are my God!”

Not My Will

Encouragement, Trust

Not My Will

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.
Luke 22:42

God’s Will

As Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He was to be crucified, He was intensely praying for God’s will to be done.  Divinely, Jesus knew what needed to be done but on the humanity side He was dreadful of what was to come.  This verse points to the fact that Jesus was fully man and fully God.

Jesus was praying for God to remove the cup of suffering.  He was praying if there could be any other way besides the cross then let it be.  But if not, then the will of the Father is best.  Jesus wanted the will of God to be done, perfectly.  This should be our prayer as well.  We should pray for God’s will to be done in our life not matter what.  No matter what suffer, loss, or anguish we must face it will be for the Lord’s sake.

Sometimes we don’t fully seek the will of God for our lives.  We seek was pleases us the most and when we face a mess we turn to God for help.  God’s will is always best for us but it’s not always the easiest.  We too may face suffering and shame in our walk with God but in the end we should always remember that if it is God’s will then it is the best way.  It’s hard sometimes to agree to have God’s will to be done in our life but we should yield our will and way to His.  Since God knows all things and He knows the future then we need to pray the same prayer that Jesus prayed.

Prayer

Lord, today, nonetheless, not my will, but yours, be done.  I submit to your will and way for my life.

My Shepherd

Salvation, Trust

My Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23:1‬ ‭

Perfect Provision

The biblical shepherd knew everything about his sheep.  He knew what they wanted to eat and when they needed fresh water to drink.  He also knew the area well enough to guide the sheep in the right direction for the perfect food and water.  The sheep grew to trust the shepherd to meet their needs.  A good shepherd always gave his sheep the best.  The condition of the sheep was a reflection of the shepherd.

The Lord is our Good Shepherd.  (John 10:11)  The Psalmist was convinced that he would never “want” for anything because the Lord would always provide the best.  Just as the sheep need a shepherd so we need the Lord, our Good Shepherd, to meet our needs.  He provides everything we need just in time.  We do not need to worry of the Lord is going to provide, we just need to follow His lead and trust Him.  The Psalmist gives us a perfect illustration of how the Lord loves His sheep.  Even to die for us.

Is there something you are “wanting”?  It may be that you have turned your focus off the Lord and turned to a worldly perspective.  God’s economy is not the same as the world’s economy.  When our desires are distracted by a worldly attraction our sense of “wanting” changes.  We never need to “want” what the world has to offer.  If we keep our minds set on Christ and heavenly things, we will never “want”.  But if we place our passions on the things of this world we will find ourselves lacking because the things of the world will never satisfy our souls like the Lord does.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Prayer

Lord, I know you give me everything I need.  Help me not to want what the world has to offer but to desire your perfect provision.